


His Majesty's Most Loyal Guard

by traumschwinge



Series: Guard and Royalty [1]
Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Class Differences, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Love Triangles, M/M, Trust Issues, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2015-10-11
Packaged: 2018-04-25 22:32:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4979119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traumschwinge/pseuds/traumschwinge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan’s served his King since said King had been a Prince and since they both had been children. First as a playmate then after years spent between the Military Academy and his Prince, his best friend, as a Bodyguard to rise to the position of head of the Royal Guard by the time the King married. Somewhere between playmates and the King’s arranged marriage, they fell in love. Now, with the wedding only a distant memory and the couple used to each other, the day seems to have come that Logan has to let his King finally go and leave.</p>
            </blockquote>





	His Majesty's Most Loyal Guard

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nikorys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nikorys/gifts).



> A/N: This fic might be endgame Cherik but it’s not targeted at Cherik readers. If you don’t like either of them with Logan, don’t read. If you don’t like either of them being the bad guy don’t read it. If you can’t take a painful arranged marriage AU, don’t read it. This one is for nikorys who inspired it and suffered my ideas for the space arranged marriage AU she initially wished for. I’m sorry what happened then.

"I understand it's nothing but a political marriage and I shouldn't expect him not to have an affair on the side so he also has a chance at love as long as it doesn't go public, but..." Then the white noise in Logan's ears set it. He had imagined this to happen so many times since they'd learned of the arranged engagement, he'd expected it to happen on the day before their wedding, if he was honest with himself. It still came as a shock now. Maybe because he'd thought everything had been going well lately. Erik had been almost euphoric after the last royal couple getaway not even a week ago. And now Logan was asked to end the affair.

"I..." Logan had to pull all the years of training at the academy, all the time spent being yelled at only so he could protect the person that came to mean everything to him, so he could keep a stoic face and even voice. "If your Highness thinks it's for the best if I step back, then of course I would do anything in my power to get away from court as far as possible so I'd never could contact your Highness' husband again." And most likely destroy his heart and soul at the same time, but he kept that thought very carefully to himself.

"Yes, I do. I don't think I can keep on having him look at me knowing he is thinking of someone else when he's at his most loving. This marriage doesn't have to be happy, but it has to be successful. As it stands, I'm at my last straw before I'm asking for a divorce." Logan swallowed. "But I understand it'd be petty and cheap to force you to end it. I'll talk to my husband myself, so he has a chance ending the affair himself. He sure must understand."

Logan bowed. "As you wish."

He didn't dare to let any of the feelings he'd been carefully bottled up during the conversation out until he was safe and alone in his own room and knew all his mental shields were tightly in place.

~*~

Years and years of being the only one trusted enough to be depended on in times of crisis had Logan anticipate when he would been needed. This night, he didn't get ready for bed after the royal couple had retreated and he was dismissed from his duty. This night, he sat down with his communicator in hand, waiting for the inevitable to happen.

It happened sooner than he'd expected. As the head of security, he was informed of any breach of security protocols on his personal communicator. Whenever it happened after his Master had withdrawn for the night, he was the only one informed of breeches within the royal quarters. He only had to restore it quick enough and nobody but the two of them knew when the King was wandering around at night and forgot to disarm the security system before he opened doors. Logan waited for a certain sequence of opened doors, which of course happened. It also told him that they'd meet at the usual spot in a corner of the King's private stargazing deck.

Logan got there as quickly as possible. It had been too short a time for them to have a real talk, too short for them to to reach an agreement, even too short for a fight. There would have been a fight, Logan knew his Master well enough to know he wouldn't let go of someone he loved without a fight. So this meant he'd ran. His Master had ran because he couldn't fight a fight he'd lose either way. And now he was waiting for Logan.

Probably to do the right thing and make his Master give up their affair. For the greater good.

Logan found him sitting where they always met, in a relatively hidden nook under the stars, hugging his knees and crying. Logan slipped into the nook next to him, wrapping his arms around him so he could hold him through the crying and then waited for the crying to end. There was nothing he could do, he didn't want to cry in front of his love, and he knew he'd need to get it out before they could talk about whatever ultimatum Charles had issued.

"He knows about you," Erik hiccupped eventually. "He... He said he does. I-I... I couldn't... He was going to ask me to leave you. He sure was." He swallowed. "Didn't I do my best to be the best husband he could have gotten out of a marriage like this? I thought he liked me. Why, why does he do this to me?" He buried his face against Logan's neck. "I can't let you go. I just can't. Who else do I have?"

Mentally, Logan took a deep breath, making sure the cork keeping his feelings bottled up was still tightly in place. "You have Charles," he said quietly. "You have your husband. And he loves you. Not just likes you. Loves."

"He wants you to be gone from my life." Erik was shaking in Logan's arms. "What's that to do with love?"

Logan ran a hand through Erik's hair. "Everything," he murmured, knowing Erik would ignore him. "Everything, my King." Louder, he asked, "What happened? You said he was going to ask you. So he didn't yet?"

"I ran out before he could," Erik murmured. "If I don't hear him ask I can pretend he didn't plan to. I don't have an answer yet."

"What did he say, then?" Logan kissed Erik's forehead like so many times before hidden in this nook, ever since they'd been children and his then Prince had needed to cry or vent about his uncle or being royal in general. It had been less here and more often in Logan's room the older they'd gotten, but ever since the wedding they'd been back at crying under the stars. More often then ever since Erik's accepted his place in life, if Logan wasn't mistaken. And he doubted he was. "We could work out an answer together," Logan murmured. "I'm sure he didn't want to hurt you like he did. He loves you. I can see it. You can see it. It's just a difficult situation."

"I hate it when you get all reasonable," Erik grumbled, without real fire. He took a deep breath. "We got into the bedroom, before he said we needed to talk." He huffed. "Said 'I know about _him_.' Then I ran."

"You didn't run right away," Logan whispered. "It's not like you. I know you'd fight."

Erik shook his head. "I couldn't fight him," he murmured. "He looked so hurt. He projected his hurt. I just..." He shrugged, as helpless as on the day he'd struck his uncle and Logan had had to hide him from his uncle's wrath, both terrified and shaking with helpless anger. "It was like an icy hand gripping my heart and squeezing when he stopped projecting. I think he didn't mean to let me share his feelings. And... I couldn't deal. I didn't want to deal." He pressed his body close to Logan's again. "He's never even seen me anything but nice. Happy. I even did my best to be loving to him. Never sad. Or, or angry." Erik swallowed, letting a few new tears drip on Logan's uniform. "I'm not even sure what I feel right now."

"Have you ever considered sharing this with him?" Logan hugged Erik close while he was talking, holding on for his dear life almost. "Did you ever try to, just, trust him?"

Erik looked up at him, his eyes mirrors of the same memories of the same awful people he'd had surrounding him all his life Logan was thinking of the second he'd closed his mouth. "I can't," he whispered. "Even if I'd want to, I can't."

Logan shook his head, trying to shake off the worst of those memories, of Erik's uncle's friends trying to sweet talk their way into the Prince's inner circle, when nobody knew that circle really was just Logan. "No, I guess you can't," he murmured. "You could have, in a couple of years, maybe. But now..."

"I'm not sure if I ever could," Erik sighed. He rubbed his fingers over his face to get rid of the worst of his tears. "He deserves it. You see that too, don't you? Charles deserves somebody who's willing to open up to him when he's opening up. Not... Me. Somebody broken." He sighed. "I should just tell him we should end this marriage. Let him have all, if possible. And let us just leave? Settle down somewhere where nobody bothers me anymore."

Logan chuckled a little. They've been at this dream Erik had of just running off so many times before and still Logan had to laugh the sadness off so it wouldn't swallow him whole. "You read your prenup before signing it, didn't you?" He kissed Erik's temple. "You cheating on him isn't even a reason for divorce according to it. That'd be a mutual breakup then. Nothing to lose for you, nothing to win for him."

"Yeah, my Uncle," Erik spat the word, "made sure to include that." He rested his head back against Logan's shoulder to look up at the stars. "Can't you and Charles fake my death? He gets my realm. You make sure he pays you. And I get my freedom."

"I'm pretty sure there are several rules and even books about why it's a bad idea to plot with somebody who despises you to get what both want," Logan shifted so he was bracketing Erik's body, his back against the wall and Erik tucking his head under Logan's chin. "That never goes well."

For several long minutes, neither of them spoke while they watched the stars above.

"Do you really think he's jealous?" Erik whispered after a long while. "Of you?"

"He loves you, you love me," Logan sighed. "Not hard to make the math there."

"How do you know he loves me?" Erik asked after a while. "There were so many before who all just pretended..."

"Because he's jealous when you think of me," Logan explained. He squeezed Erik a bit. Losing him had been an possibility for so long. Now, it was almost a necessity. He had to push Erik away. He didn't want to.

Erik turned his head so he could look at Logan. He brushed his thumb over the corner of Logan's eye. "That's tautology."

"I'm just a humble guard, your Highness, I know nothing about philosophy," Logan said stoically.

Erik settled back into Logan's arms, making himself comfortable again. "Don't joke about serious topics," he whispered. "It only makes me sad for both of us."

Logan pretended not to have heard. Over them, stars were twinkling in the universe's endless depth. There was no noise, aside from their breaths and the humming of the air conditioning unit keeping the room at ideal temperature. The lights were off, to better see the stars and because neither of them needed it. A pipe, part of the ventilation, hid them to the right, with only the glass of the observation dome to their left. When they'd been kids, Logan had usually brought blankets. Now, it usually was a thermos of coffee. Tonight, he had nothing for comfort.

"I could talk to him, for you," Logan offered. It felt like he'd been holding Erik a hour and a second at once by then. "About you. Tell him what you can't. I know all of it anyway. You're a good man."

"Can you wait with that until tomorrow?" Erik murmured. "I... I don't... Tomorrow, please?"

"Under one condition," Logan sighed. He didn't like what he was about to say but he knew if he wanted to have a chance they needed this. "You go..." He swallowed. "You go back to Charles. If he asks, tell him you need time, that you'll talk tomorrow. But sleep at your rooms, not in my bed. Please, Erik. Do this for me."

Logan could feel Erik's heartbeat quicken even while he was still talking. "This sounds like you're already preparing to break up with me. Sending me back to Charles like this." He gripped Logan's wrist and held on so hard it hurt. "Will you even still be here when I wake up?"

Logan buried his nose in Erik's hair. He took a few deep breaths. "I could never leave you like that, without saying goodbye. I promise." His chest hurt.

"You promise me you'll still be here tomorrow?" Erik asked.

"I promise you I will be still here tomorrow and I will talk to your husband," Logan said solemnly.

"And I have to go back to him?" Erik had loosened his grip a little.

Logan kissed the back of Erik's neck. "You trust me, right?"

"I do," Erik laughed. "It's just not comforting right now."

"It'll be alright," Logan murmured, continuing to kiss Erik. "I love you. I won't let you down. But you have to trust my judgement if you don't trust your own."

Erik nodded. "I trust you," he sighed. For the first time that night he sounded almost relaxed, so Logan kept kissing his neck. "Just... Can we stay here? Just a little longer? Before we walk back."

"Of course we can," Logan murmured. He leaned forward to kiss Erik's cheek.

~*~

The morning was just about to become early noon, when Logan was called into the private rooms of the royal couple. He left his weapons and his communicator in his own room, taking only his id patch so they could go wherever if they wouldn't talk in the King's living room. He found the royal couple waiting for him in the semi-public living room that was the first of their rooms anyone entered. Just another way to show, Logan thought, that this might be private, but he wasn't allowed in the inner sanctuary. Never again, at least.

His King was standing to the side of the room, his back mostly turned to the door outside, to Logan. Only the tension in his shoulders was an indication of how hard it was for Erik not to turn around. It was telling enough for Logan. He must be more nervous than ever, to let that tiny crack in his usually so carefully crafted mask slip. Logan couldn't help but hate the royal consort, king in his own right and realm, a little for that. But it wasn't his place to act on personal feelings with royalty.

He bowed before Charles, who was sitting on one of the ancient looking divans, a still steaming, untouched cup of tea before him. The royal consort, Logan noted, didn't look like he'd gotten much sleep the night before. "Your Highness called me," he said evenly once he was standing upright again. He didn't relax his stance, he didn't talk more than protocol dictated, a prime example of a guard from the academy's books.

"I hear you wanted to talk to me," Charles' eyes flickered over to his husband's still turned back. Logan wondered if he'd seen the miniscule twitch in Erik's stance as well. "I called you so we could talk in private. Follow me to the gardens."

Logan bowed again, indicating his agreement. Charles stood up, slowly and composed, brushing non-existent crumbs off his trousers. They walked in silence through the corridors connecting the rooms of the royal couple with the garden dome. The corridors were deserted, they didn't meet a single soul. Charles must have ordered that. The garden dome itself was sealed and empty as well, until Charles unlocked it.

Once inside, they only went a few paces further before Charles stopped. Logan followed suit, waiting to be spoken to. "I might not wish you to be part of my husband's life," Charles said. "But for bringing him back to me last night, I do have to thank you."

It wasn't a question, so Logan said nothing, merely indicating a bow.

"He said you wanted to talk to me in his stead," Charles went on. He looked more tired than he had all morning. "So please, do tell me why he's acting this way. Doesn't he understand his duty? It's like he's a different person when it comes to you. I don't even know him anymore."

"May I be blunt with you in this matter?" Logan asked. At Charles' nod, he went on, mentally collecting all his strength to silence his heart, "Last night, you fucked up big time. And I'm not saying that because it was about me. He does his best to do right by you. And to him, it feels like you _rewarded_ him for that by asking him to go beyond his breaking point. You asked him to give up the last piece of himself. The last and only thing" Only with great pain, Logan could keep his voice and body from shaking. "That was ever truly his. Whatever trust he had in you, it's gone. And he had some, or he wouldn't have tried so hard for you."

Charles was silent after that for a long while. "So you really are his only friend?" he murmured. Logan indicated a nod, allowing Charles to pretend he hadn't heard him if he wanted. "Do you love him?"

"Does it matter?" Logan averted his eyes. If Charles wanted, it could still be a yes. "My loyalty to him and him alone was never in question. It's not my place to love him."

"I love him," Charles murmured. He licked over his lips, raw from earlier biting. "He's my husband. It's my place to love him. I never thought I would get one I could love, but Erik... And then there's you." He let out a long, agonized sigh. Almost inaudible, he added, "I sometimes wished you weren't."

"Then the solution for you is simple, isn't it?" Logan clenched his jaw for a second. "Let me leave. Take all his memories of me. That's the only way. In ten, thirty years, maybe he'll start opening up. But there won't be anyone but you he's opening up to."

Charles looked at him, anger and dismay battling in his clear, blue eyes. Logan was sure he'd be struck but the slap never came. Instead, Charles deflated, sinking together in himself. All air of arrogance of knowing his place and standing was gone. "I couldn't do that. You saw him earlier. I couldn't... That's not him. He was caring, nice, as usual. But so terribly cold. Like he walled off all his feelings, not just the ones he doesn't want to show." He took a shuddering breath. "Why would you even ask such a thing?"

"You love him," Logan said slowly. "He can't let me go. I couldn't leave him if it broke his heart. So you'd have to set me free. You..." Logan looked at the royal consort. "You have a rightful place in his life, by his side. I don't. It's that simple."

"You said it would destroy him if you left," Charles shook his head. "And I came to see you're right. But what do you think he'd be like if you've never been part of his life?" Charles took a deep breath. "No. I need you, because he needs you. I might hate it but he doesn't trust me. To change that, I need time. And you seem to be the only one who can grant that time to me."

"I don't like you," Logan said, his eyes fixed on a point a little right to and above Charles' head. "His trust is very hard to earn. There's no easy, quick path. He's been betrayed and let down too often for that. I could mediate to make it a little easier for you, but I don't like you."

"And yet you brought him back to me last night instead of keeping him to yourself." Charles studied Logan's face for a long moment.

"I did what was my duty and the right thing for King and country," Logan explained, still under close scrutiny.

"If I ordered you to help me getting my husband to open up to me," Charles mused. "Would you do it?"

"I don't have orders from my King against it." Logan swallowed, adding very quiet and meek, "Erik could use one friend more."

"Do we have a deal, then?" Charles extended a hand, shaking a little. "I order you to help me and for that I will let you stay here, in your current position."

"Are there any other conditions, your Highness?" Logan asked carefully.

Charles thought for a moment. "You don't sleep with him anymore." Logan was about to protest that they hadn't, not since the wedding. "Kissing is fine as long as it doesn't happen in front of me and you don't start it. Once a week, you'll have dinner with both of us, officially to discuss security. Understood?" Charles' glance lost most of its determination. "Is that acceptable?"

Logan took the extended hand, shaking it briefly to seal the agreement. "Nothing in it goes against my loyalties, your Highness."


End file.
